Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy tagged posts

The A-Gear robotic arm in use. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Twente

Researchers have developed A-Gear: a robotic arm that can support the daily activities of people suffering the muscular disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. They recently put the final touches to the 1st prototype for a discreet, body-connected support aid that can be worn under the clothing and that can support independent operation of the arm during important daily activities. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy occurs in1 in 5000 live born boys. The muscles become weaker during their life. As a result, boys with Duchenne lose the ability to use their arms until, eventually, they are unable to use them at all.

Over the past 4 years, the researchers have been working on 2 arm supports: a passive arm support – controlled...

The dystrophin protein connects the cytoskeleton of muscle fibers with its N-terminal actin-binding domain and the extra-cellular matrix via a cysteine-rich C-terminal domain that binds dystroglycan, which in turn is bound to laminin 2. Between these two functional domain lies a large central domain that consists of 24 spectrin like repeats.

Human clinical trials are next step. Muscular dystrophy, which affects approximately 250,000 people in the US, occurs when damaged muscle tissue is replaced with fibrous, fatty or bony tissue and loses function. For years, scientists have searched for a way to successfully treat the most common form of the disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which primarily affects boys...